The seminar was convened in response to reportage by sections of the media that violates children's rights to privacy and dignity. The MMP reports that in recent months the media has divulged the names of children that were victims of abuse. A cited example was the highly publicised case of the abduction last year of Pretoria schoolgirl Nadia Neethling, whose photograph was extensively shown on television and in newspapers, with details of the alleged assault.
The present voluntary codes of conduct allow for members of the public to report infringements of their rights by the media to several bodies, such as the Advertising Standards Authority for advertising-related complaints, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission for television and radio reporting, and the Press Ombudsman for print media reporting. However, subscription to the codes of conduct is voluntary, and none of these bodies can sanction transgressors in the form penalties or fines.
In their defence, media organisations argued that the publicity given to certain cases, child abduction in particular, assisted investigations, often with members of the public coming forward with valuable information. Legal experts were in agreement, however that the right to press freedom and freedom of expression should be weighed against an individual's, and especially children's, rights to dignity and privacy.
